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From the vast, high-tech arena that was the Rose Bowl, the one-day caravan has shifted to the idyllic County Ground at Bristol, a venue set up as early at 1889 and one steeped in history.It’s a ground where the memory of WG Grace, Gilbert Jessop and Wally Hammond lives on, from an age where the sport was still an amateur pastime. There is a suite named after Jack Russell, the former England wicketkeeper, who was one of the most eccentric men to walk the cricket field. Temporary stands have been set up for this encounter and makeshift flood-lights arrangements are being put in place.Narrow, winding streets provide an approach to the ground and locals say the route will be choc-a-block tomorrow. This miniature ground is lined with houses on one side and trees on the other. A thick edge is bound to fly over third man for six and, if the pitch plays true, the match could be a high-scoring one.Twice in nine games has a score of more than 300 been seen here and India have been involved in both. The first was against Kenya in the 1999 World Cup when Sachin Tendulkar made an emotional hundred after returning from his father’s funeral; the next was against Sri Lanka in the Natwest Series of 2002, when Tendulkar smashed another century in India’s 63-run win. He batted at No. 4 in both instances. India will need something similar from him tomorrow, this time at No. 1.Worringly for India, Tendulkar missed practice on the eve of the game along with Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, RP Singh and Yuvraj Singh, all of whom were suffering from flu and body ache. With Munaf Patel returning from injury, India find themselves heavily depleted at such an early stage of the series.England are likely to stick to the same combination, one that ran away to an overwhelming win at the Rose Bowl. “There’s a lot of energy in the side,” said an upbeat Stuart Broad, England’s opening bowler. “It’s an exciting place to be playing. We had a great performance at the Rose Bowl. If we fulfil our potential, we’re difficult to beat.”A fiery return for Andrew Flintoff added an potency to their side. Steaming in at more than 90mph and hitting the awkward middle length, he made life difficult for India’s middle order. The fact that James Anderson and Broad teamed up for such a good combination first up made things easier. “Jimmy bowls a swingy length and I hit the pitch and get bounce,” said Broad. “It’s good to have such a combination. Certainly our aim is to bowl straight and [be] aggressive.”

Rahul Dravid admitted that Gautam Gambhir’s spot was under scrutiny, adding that he might miss out if they go with the five-bowlers option. “Like everyone else in this side, he has earned the right through performances,” Dravid said. “When he goes back to domestic cricket he scores runs and must be given the opportunity. Whether he takes those chances or not is up to him. In Ireland he got a 70, did well in Scotland. He’s got runs in all the side games between the Tests. Now it’s up to him to stand up and make the jump.”India have a few factors to consider while picking their XI – the pitch, which the curator feels is “a 300 wicket” and the size of the ground, which is conspicuously small. It might be tricky playing two spinners here, especially with the 30-yard circle dangerously close to the boundary line at the pavilion end. One meaty hit is all it will take to clear the Hammond roof, the Grace pavilion, and the Jack Russell suite. Three legends floored with one stroke.England (likely) 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Matt Prior (wk), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Ravi Bopara, 8 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson,11 Monty PanesarIndia (likely) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Sourav Ganguly, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid (capt), 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 7 Dinesh Karthik, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Ajit Agarkar, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 RP Singh.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the ICC to look into derogatorycomments allegedly made by Rudi Koertzen about the Pakistan team.During the Central Employment Tribunal’s hearing into Darrell Hair’s caseagainst the ICC last week, Hair had described a phone call in whichKoertzen, the South African umpire, had referred to the Pakistan team ascheats.Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, said, “We have written to the ICC to look intothis matter and verify the authenticity of the remarks Koertzen is allegedto have made.”Ashraf, who appeared at the tribunal half-an-hour before Hair withdrew thecase, also reiterated Pakistan’s stance that they felt Hair was unfit toofficiate at the elite level. “We have no personal issue against Hair,” he said. “Ourcomplaint was on the basis that Hair as an umpire failed. His judgement waswrong that day and his behaviour has to be rectified. For that he isundergoing rehabilitation and that is a positive step.”When asked what Pakistan’s stance would be were Hair to return, Ashrafsaid, “To say that he is coming back on the panel is putting an optimisticface on it. After rehabilitation, the ICC may consider if Hair is fit forumpiring. Our position remains the same, but after rehab the ICC boardwill revisit the issue.”

Rahul Dravid, who resigned as India’s captain last week, has said that being the leader took a lot out of him.”I had done the job for two years and they have been pretty eventful couple of years,” Dravid told . “Obviously it takes a lot out of you and I felt that I was not enjoying it.”The decision was personal and based on my observation of whether I would be able to give it my very best like I have always tried to,” Dravid said. “Finally, you have to be comfortable yourself that you will be giving it your best and not going through the motions which will not be fair to the team.”Dravid indicated he considered quitting only towards the end of the ODI series in England. “I didn’t want to take any decision there [in England] without first speaking to my family and wanted to give it a few days back home to see if I felt differently before taking a final call,” he said. “This was the reason I couldn’t tell even the players because it was a decision I did not want to take lightly or without being sure.”Dravid played down talk of him throwing in the towel ahead of sterner challenges ahead, including playing Pakistan at home and touring Australia. “Every series is tough in international cricket and we are playing constantly all the time. So it’s not as if there is any break or period,” he said. “There is no real right time for decision like this except for the fact that you must truly enjoy the job and be committed to it and know that you can give it your all.”There is a shelf life to the captaincy in India in which you can give it your best. Maybe the shelf lives are becoming shorter as time goes by.”Dravid said the early exit from the World Cup in the West Indies and the loss in the final Test at Cape Town last January were the lows of his tenure while the Test series wins in West Indies and England were the high points.He downplayed suggestions that the captaincy had affected his batting. “Like when I was a player I had some good series and some bad ones. And it was the same when I was the captain.”

Without putting too fine a point on it, West Indies’ 128-run victory in Port Elizabeth was one of the major surprises of 2007. They hadn’t won a Test for 19 months and, more significantly, had beaten major opposition away from home only once since the turn of the millennium. Now the question is whether they can continue to turn the tables on South Africa in the New Year Test in Cape Town and complete a series triumph no one really thought was possible.The key to their success last week was a determined effort from the batsmen, which set up a total of 408 for the five-pronged pace attack to bowl at. An undercooked South Africa battling line-up slumped twice, although West Indies still showed their ability to conjure a collapse as they lost 6 for 22 late on the third day. It didn’t cost them dearly – and meant the possibility of a safety-first declaration was taken out of Chris Gayle’s hands – but they will need more of their stickability to keep the home side at bay for a second time.Shivnarine Chanderpaul led the batting with a fine 104, but his limpet-like qualities are already well-known. The eye-catching performance came from Marlon Samuels, named Man of the Match after his innings of 94 and 40, as he showed previously unseen powers of concentration and responsibility.”Test cricket is very difficult and I would love to get a chance to play more Test matches back-to-back instead of being in and then out of the side so often,” Samuels told the . “It will give me the chance of getting better scores more regularly and being more consistent. I was very disappointed that I didn’t get the century, but if I could score 94 and the West Indies go on to win every time, I’ll be satisfied.”South Africa have tried to avoid appearing in panic mode and they have recent form in bouncing back from an early loss. Last year they slipped up against India in Johannesburg before coming back to taking the series 2-1. Mickey Arthur, the coach, said: “We’ve won four Test series in a row. We intend to win this one too. The bowling attack has led us to victory in the last four Tests we’ve played, and don’t forget they bowled the West Indies out for 175 in the second innings. We had one bad innings and that happens to teams from time to time.”Captain Graeme Smith is also banking on the past experiences of his team: “We had a very good training session yesterday, and we seem to be hitting our straps again,” he said. “Hopefully it’s just about executing and getting things right out in the middle. We know we’re capable of it, we’ve proven our worth. We know we’re going to play this game under pressure, and we know we can play a lot better than we did in Port Elizabeth.”However, the call-up of Neil McKenzie highlights the concerns over the top order, which has failed to perform consistently for a lengthy period of time. Even during their success in Pakistan and easy victory over New Zealand the run-scoring was largely in the hands of Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla. Smith is desperately in need of a score and Herschelle Gibbs appears set to pay the price for his pair in the first Test.The axe has been looming over Gibbs for some time; his last Test century came in January 2005 against England in Johannesburg and in the subsequent 26 Tests he has averaged 26. But the selection of McKenzie, one of the few high scorers in domestic cricket, to open while he is primarily a middle-order batsman shows the lack of options available. Boeta Dippenaar was another option, but there has been a push around South Africa to get McKenzie back in the fold for some time.Another old face pushing for a recall is Shaun Pollock, who hasn’t played Tests this season after being left out in Pakistan, and Arthur said “he’s definitely in the reckoning.” A return for Pollock would strengthen the lower order to a more familiar level for South Africa. However, the management has been keen to build the attack on the three frontline quicks and Paul Harris, with a view to the tough tours of England and Australia later this year. Recent events, though, could force a rethink as this series against West Indies, initially thought to be a formality, has now became a major challenge for South Africa.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Neil McKenzie, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 AB de Villiers, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya NtiniWest Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Daren Ganga, 3 Runako Morton, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy, 9 Jerome Taylor, 10 Daren Powell, 11 Fidel Edwards

Free hit, free hit, and another free hit
Can’t beat this. Three no-balls in a row for Brett Lee. Three free hits for the batsmen. For the first one, Robin Uthappa stepped away, read the short one well and sent it crashing over long-on for six. The second he swatted straight to mid-off for a single, while Gautam Gambhir drove the third straight into the hands of Andrew Symonds at backward point, who took the catch, which, of course, didn’t result in a wicket as the delivery was a free hit.Matter of respect
Harbhajan Singh is used to the customary booing each time he walks out to bat and in fact thrives on the hostile atmosphere. The asking-rate was almost two runs a ball and Harbhajan didn’t buckle under the pressure. Stuart Clark bowled one short, slow and outside off, and Harbhajan slapped it effortlessly over cover. Next one he pushed to the vacant mid-on and scampered back for two but Uthappa had run one short. Clark showed his frustration by bowling wide down the leg side, giving away five runs. A straight delivery that followed was thrashed by Harbhajan over the bowler’s head for four. Another double was stolen and by the time he exited after a delightful cameo of 20, he surely demanded more respect.What the …
He went down on his knees with both hands clasped behind his head. No, it didn’t appear like a tennis champion after having won a Grand Slam, but more akin to the anguish of a footballer who’s just missed the last kick in sudden death. Ricky Ponting had that look of dismay when his brilliant stop and throw from mid-off failed to hit the stumps. Irfan Pathan had taken on one of the best arms on the circuit and was lucky to survive.Gilly scores a try, almost
Gautam Gambhir charged down the wicket to Nathan Bracken and got an inside edge, which sneaked towards the vacant fine-leg region. Adam Gilchrist was in hot pursuit, but when he realised he couldn’t catch up, he threw himself down like a try scorer in rugby about 10 metres from the target. The 37-year-old wicketkeeper’s slide was a little off the mark, but the effort deserved top rating.Powerplays can be confusing
Captains have their hands full trying to figure out Powerplays these days. The third one was nearing its end when Ponting pushed an extra fielder outside the inner circle. Three men are allowed to be positioned in the outfield during the third Powerplay but Australia were taking it a fielder too far. The fact wasn’t lost, fortunately, on the vigilant square-leg umpire – Daryl Harper – who signalled a no-ball.Thump
Gambhir went for a flat six over long-on off Brad Hogg, except it bounced a couple of yards inside the boundary then another bounce before clearing the hoardings. A couple of kids attempted to stop the ball, but deflected it right on to the forehead of the gentleman behind, who smiled gamely despite the rather unexpected blow.Outstretched
Sreesanth was wayward, and Gilchrist cashed in, smashing two successive boundaries. Gilchrist was cramped for room when one came back in to the body, and got an inside edge that raced toward Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s wrong side. Dhoni dived and caught the ball in his fingertips; though it remains to be seen if the illegal piece of webbing had given him an unfair advantage.Wake-up call
Rohit Sharma, who came up with some scintillating saves at point completely misjudged one that came off the leading edge from Ponting. Ishant Sharma once again squared up the Australian captain with one that moved away; Rohit stayed put, at first thinking the ball was coming straight to him, only to find it moving to his left. A late dive was futile, and Ponting, on 15, had been let off early.Too late
Rohit atoned for his previous faux pas by running out Matthew Hayden. Ponting pushed one into the covers off Virender Sewhag and called for a single. Rohit picked the ball with his left hand, switched it to his right while on the turn and threw it straight to the bowler, who triumphantly knocked off the bails. Unfortunately for Hayden, he was stranded mid-pitch as Ponting’s call to ‘wait’ had come too late.Cool down, Ishant
It’s difficult to be a fast bowler when the batsmen get after you. Ishant Sharma got whipped by Hayden and Ponting in his first spell. As the innings neared its end he had Andrew Symonds bowled off a slow ball, and duly let out his frustration by celebrating a wee bit excessively. Symonds didn’t like that, words were exchanged between the two, and it ended with Sharma pointing towards the dressing room repeatedly. Umpire Harper cautioned Dhoni about the 19-year-old, who has been summoned by match referee Jeff Crowe for a disciplinary hearing on Monday.

Don’t expect Brett Lee to change his bowling approach despite his promotion to attack leader following the retirement of Glenn McGrath. Australia’s new-look unit will have its first assignment against Sri Lanka on November 8 and Lee will take control with Stuart Clark and, probably, Mitchell Johnson by his side.While Lee has had the extra responsibility in the one-day game over the past couple of years, even when McGrath was around, he has had only short-term stints in charge during McGrath’s Test absences. “It’s great to have that role as a strike bowler,” Lee said in the Australian, “but I’m not going to change my game in any way, shape or form to try and adapt to that.”John Buchanan, the former Australia coach, expects Lee to enjoy the duty. “I see that Glenn McGrath has told him it’s his turn to step up to the plate, to be the lead bowler,” he said. “He certainly has the experience.”Lee, who has returned strongly from ankle surgery, learned a lot during the 2003-04 series against India, when he bowled without McGrath in two Tests. It was a horrible experience as he struggled for impact and finished the contest with figures of 4 for 201 and 0 for 75 in the final game at Sydney.India arrive in December and Lee is already looking past the two-match series with Sri Lanka. “They’re great batsmen to bowl against, and if you want to improve your cricket, you always put yourself against the best and that’s the Indian batsmen,” Lee said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “We’ve definitely got our work cut out but we have got a great side and we’ve got that depth and the right structure in place.”He also said life would be different without McGrath and Shane Warne. “In the hard Test matches we’ve always thought we can always turn to Glenn or Shane to try to take a wicket and actually get that breakthrough,” he said. “But now we haven’t got that. We are looking to guys like Stuey Clark or Mitchell Johnson, if he gets the opportunity, or Stuey MacGill, or whoever it might be.”

Louise Milliken, the New Zealand women’s fast bowler, has been ruled out of the five-match Rose Bowl Series against Australia and the tour to England after injuring her knee. Sarah Burke will replace her for the Australian leg of the tour, while Ros Kember will take her place on the tour to England.A scan done in Hamilton revealed that Milliken will require surgery after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament.New Zealand narrowly lost the Twenty20 game against Australia by just one run on Thursday. The one-day series starts today, while the tour of England begins early next month.

A Tasmanian car containing a batch of egg throwers was fortunate to escape after pelting a small group of Sri Lankans in Hobart last week. Muttiah Muralitharan would have been in hot pursuit of the drive-by yolkers if he and his fellow tourists were not so shocked by the flying object, which hit a selector in the back, but they laughed it off as a random act.While the Sri Lankans reported the incident on Friday, Mahela Jayawardene, their captain, said a green light saved the car’s passengers, who were “probably drunk”, from being chased by the men in the group.”If Murali had a stone or something near him he would’ve thrown it back,” Jayawardene said in Brisbane. “By the time they had realised what had happened the car had raced down the road. It was lucky for the guys in the car that the traffic light was green, otherwise Murali said he would have chased them.”Jayawardene joked it would have been funny if the egg had hit Murali instead of a selector. “It was a just a random thing and not a big deal,” he said. “We all had a good laugh about it. We didn’t want the matter to escalate so we lodged the complaint and left it at that. Murali was part of the group and the only recognisable person, but we all are fine with the matter.”Muralitharan has received a lot of poor treatment in Australia and even though it was unlikely the occupants of the car recognised him, the fact that a group of Sri Lankan tourists was singled out is a poor reflection on the host country.Another spinner, India’s Harbhajan Singh, has also been targeted following his part in the race controversy involving Andrew Symonds at the SCG, and Symonds’ home crowd chanted “Harbhajan’s a w***er” during the opening ODI of the CB Series.Jayawardene said it was important to “block everything” out during tours of Australia. “When you come here it’s not just the players who are aggressive, it’s also the crowd who are as aggressive as their team,” he said. “Everyone wants to win here in any sport, so teams need to prepare for that.”We should block everything else apart from what needs to be done in the middle. The Indians showed that with the way they bounced back in the Test series recently after what all happened in Sydney.”

Chaminda Vaas, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, spoke of his pride in answering the critics who questioned his value after he struck a workmanlike 90 and took four wickets on the third day against England at Galle.”I wanted to prove something. People started asking questions about my ability. I answered them by performing well throughout the series,” Vaas said. “I am here because I have performed in every game taking 330 wickets purely on performance. My plan is to play one more year of Test cricket and to continue in the one-day game for two years.”Vaas, 33, was under pressure before this series when the selectors told him that he hadn’t performed to his optimum ability, and that they would consider dropping him in the future. However, he has taken 11 cheap wickets at 25.81 apiece – and his innings of 90 today led Sri Lanka to a towering 499 for 9. His only regret was not reaching three figures.”Getting 90 is better than nothing,” he said. “I am very happy [with] the way I batted. I learnt a lot from playing county cricket [for Hampshire, Worcestershire and Middlesex]. Batting is more important to the team. When the team needs runs, as a tailender you have to put your head down and get runs. That’s why we were able to get nearly 500 runs today. Getting a hundred for a fast bowler is something to cherish. Considering the situation we were in it was better to get 90. I got good support from Mahela [Jayawardene].”The ball always swings in Sri Lanka and I am very pleased with my performance, [with] the way I bowled today. We went with a plan to bowl in good areas. We showed that there is something on the wicket and we ended up bowling England for under 100. All of us bowled pretty well. If you do bowl in the good areas you can take a lot of wickets. England bowled here and there and negatively. That’s the difference.”England, who capitulated for a paltry 81, were at the mercy of Vaas who took 4 for 28, but there was another left-armer to support him. Chanaka Welegedara, making his debut aged 26, bowled a lively and accurate eight-over spell, picking up 2 for 17, and Vaas thinks Sri Lanka have found someone very special.”He has a long future ahead of him if he looks after his injuries,” he said. “He will turn out to be one of the best bowlers in the world. He bowled pretty well today and he is still learning. I am sure he will come out very well.”

Somerset 139 for 4 (Gazzard 59*) beat UAE 138 (Khurram Khan 67) by six wickets
ScorecardSomerset cruised to a six-wicket win over UAE with almost 19 overs to spare in the Pro ARCH Trophy at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.On a day when Somerset’s attention was centred on Marcus Trescothick, who pulled out of this tour at the 11th hour, this one-sided match barely registered on the radar.UAE were always second best, slipping to 32 for 4 before a gutsy 67 from veteran Khurram Khan gave them respectability but nothing remotely close to a winning score. Khan was the last man out.Carl Gazzard, opening in Trescothick’s absence, made an unbeaten 59, including consecutive sixes to finish the match, while James Hildreth chipped in with a breezy 29.